How The Smokey Bear Effect Led To Raging Wildfires

In short: analysis of thousands of years worth of tree rings showed that in the southwest, fires sprang up every five to ten years, blitzed through forests, burned off the shrubs and dead stuff and left the trees and forests alive to pick up and carry on. But starting around 1900, forest fires became rarer, but turned into monsters that burned full grown trees right down to the ground, killing the forests, sometimes permanently. What happened? The Forest Service happened.

Translation: nature can take care of itself, thank you. As the man said: “Oh yes, that’s it! You finally learned your lesson! and now I am off to spread my teachings to more sissy do-gooders!”